Christmas gifts: Hidden pop gems of 2011

Christmas gifts: Hidden pop gems of 2011

The end of every year sees a chorus of acclaim heaped on a select few artists... but what about the unsung heroes who slip through the net? Our critics pick the pop, world music and jazz albums that deserved more attention in 2011 – and could make the perfect gift for the serious muso

Saturday 17 December 2011 19.01 EST
First published on Saturday 17 December 2011 19.01 EST

Mikal Cronin

Mikal Cronin(Trouble In Mind)Fried garage-pop has taken a back seat to stronger psychedelics in the US underground over the past few years. But Mikal Cronin’s debut solo record goes some way to righting this anomaly. The standout track here is “Apathy”, a magnificent stop-start singalong. But the fun doesn’t end there, as nuggety thrashes follow scuffed-up love songs.
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amazon.co.uk

Nicolas Jaar

Space is Only Noise(Circus Company)A Francophone American brought up in Chile, Nicolas Jaar was always going to have some perspective. His category-defying album takes the building blocks of minimal techno – trickling noises, claustrophobic bass, sampled snatches – adding in unexpected elements such as blues (“I Got A Woman” borrows from Ray Charles) and soul (“Almost Fell”) to create a thoughtful, immersive whole.
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amazon.co.uk

Tim Hecker

Ravedeath, 1972(Kranky) An album full of uneasy drones with titles like “Hatred Of Music I” doesn’t sound like much of a draw in these anxious times. But there is something serene and transcendent about sound artist Hecker’s 2011 work. Based on a series of pipe organ recordings in an Icelandic church, Ravedeath, 1972 plays out like a stately ambient requiem for certainty.
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Eleanor Friedberger

Last Summer(Merge)Fiery Furnaces fans have been waiting nearly a decade for the female Friedberger to make a solo record. Last Summer was no disappointment – a recollected Brooklyn travelogue that embraced funk bass and sax solos. Sometimes Friedberger sounded like the new hipster’s Patti Smith, sometimes merely a skewwhiff ur-pop marvel.
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Thee Oh Sees

Carrior Crawler/The Dream(In The Red) Garage rock is a reckless, deathless pleasure of a genre, and few have purveyed it so consistently of late as Californians Thee Oh Sees. Of the two albums they released this year, this one was marginally more locked-on, boasting an extra drummer. The instrumental “Chem-Farmer” pithily plugs the Thee Oh Sees charms, while the Cramps-ish “Crack In Your Eye” adds psychedelic falsettos to the mix.
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amazon.co.uk

The Field

Looping State Of Mind(Kompakt)Anyone who considers “repetitive” a pejorative should avoid Swedish dance music producer Axel Willner’s third album, constructed entirely from loops. Those who grasp the link between the ecstatic states of pre-industrial shamen and our propulsive digital age will find plenty of layered bliss to nod along to here.
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The Civil Wars

Barton Hollow(Sensibility)Don’t be misled by the indie-rock name; John Paul White and Joy Williams deliver stately country folk of rare charm. There’s a touch of Robert Plant/Alison Krauss chemistry to the duo’s vocal interplay, while their songs slide between gentle melancholia and fiery aggrievement.
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amazon.co.uk

Various

Cecil Sharp Project(EFDSS)A gaggle of Brit and US folkies were hot-housed for a week to come up with this tribute to pioneer song collector Cecil Sharp. Focusing on his American travels, it leaps between standards such as “Coocoo Bird” and “Barbara Allen” and originals including Steve Knightley’s “Mining For Songs”. Jackie Oates and Kathryn Roberts add vocal sparkle.
NSBuy online at
amazon.co.uk

Howlin' Wolf

Smokestack Lightning(Chess)A handsomely packaged four disc collection collating the first decade of a titanic bluesman. Some of the hits that endeared the gravel-voiced Wolf to 60s Brit and US bluesers are here – “Spoonful”, “Back Door Man” – but prequels like “Moanin’ At Midnight” are as good, and the studio banter and out-takes are an anorak’s dream.
NSamazon.co.uk

Rita Hosking

Burn(Self Released)Beyond Nashville’s airbrushed celebrations of blue-collar life lies an America of dirt-poor trailer parks and dead factories, one caught vividly by north California’s Hosking. Her keening vocals and simple accompaniments are old-timey but her lament for the Gulf of Mexico and its “drunk shrimpers in oil-baron hell” is here and now.
NSBuy online at
amazon.co.uk

Michael Garrick Jazz Orchestra

Tone Poems(Jazz Academy)Veteran British jazz composer Garrick (above) died last month, and this was his last album. The 10 tracks combine new pieces with fresh versions of Garrick classics, such as “Black Marigolds”. The 20-piece band does full justice to the great range of his orchestration, which provides the setting for a cast of fine soloists.
DGBuy online at
amazon.co.uk

Marsalis Family

Music Redeems(Emarcy)The entire Marsalis tribe, plus Harry Connick Jnr and a few more, indulge in a musical party to raise funds for a musical charity. It may not be the greatest music Wynton, Branford and the rest have ever played, but it certainly sounds like fun. Best party-piece is Jason Marsalis whistling Charlie Parker’s impossibly speedy ‘Donna Lee’.
DG Buy online at
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Big Bill Broonzy

Four Classic Albums Plus(Avid) It’s fair to say that Broonzy turned Britain and Europe on to the blues. His gloriously soulful voice and exceptional acoustic guitar playing captivated audiences in the 1950s. This double-CD pack catches the full extent of his artistry, from deep blues to cheerful good-time numbers, solo voice-and-guitar to rocking Chicago jump bands.
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Phil Seamen

Seamen's Mission(Properbox)Four-CD collection of music featuring the late, great and very disorderly British drummer. Apart from demonstrating what a terrific player Seamen was, these 60 tracks add up to a good historical anthology of British modern jazz through the 1950s, featuring, among others, Ronnie Scott, Tubby Hayes, Joe Harriott and Victor Feldman.
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Spats Langham

Laughing At Life(Lake)For devotees of earlier jazz styles, revitalised by good modern performers, this is one not to miss. Ragtime, vaudeville blues, cracking old tunes that nobody has touched for years - they all come up bright and sparkling after treatment by Langham (vocals, guitar, banjo), pianist Martin Litton and bassist Malcolm Sked.
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